Works you *wish* Karajan had conducted

[darkehmen]

Even though Karajan's discography is vast -- likely greater than that of any significant conductor -- even he left certain "gaps" in his oeuvre, and never got around to conducting some of the cornerstones of the repertory.

I was just wondering -- what are some of the works that Karajan never recorded that you wish he had? I don't mean obscure pieces. I mean concert-hall favourites.

Here are a few that come to mind. Most significantly:

-Weber: Der Freischutz (complete)
-Wagner: Tannhauser (yes, there is a live mono recording, but it doesn't take the place of a studio stereo issue)
-Orff: Carmina Burana
-Handel: Messiah
-Mendelssohn: Incidental Music to "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (or at least the "Wedding March")
-Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain
-Elgar: Pomp & Circumstance March #1
-Delibes: "Flower Duet" from Lakme
-Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
-Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
-Mozart: Symphony No. 25 "Little g minor"
-Saint-Saens: Danse Macabre
-Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals

Also perhaps:
-Sibelius: Symphony Nr. 3 (if only to complete the set)

Others?

[lee]

Yes Darkehmen, this is a very frustrating topic ! I'll add to your pain by listing works that HvK nearly recorded too:

Shostakovich Symphony No 8 and Rachmaninov Symphony No 2 with the BPO - these were both vetoed by EMI in the 1960's. More understandably perhaps, they also vetoed a recording of Bloch's Israel Symphony in the 1950's for political reasons - not the first time that HvK's pre-war activities were to cast a shadow over what he conducted; he apparently greatly revered the same composer's Schelomo (and programmed it once at a New Year's Eve concert) as well as Britten's War Requiem which was performed twice in the mid-1960's to disappear from his schedule thereafter.
Verdi: La Traviata - my least favourite Verdi opera, but apparently HvK was due to record it with the Philharmonia and Callas/Krauss in 1960. Karajan and the orchestra instead taped Sibelius symphonies and redid the Philharmonia Promenade Concert in stereo.
Brahms: Symphonies 1 - 4 with the Dresden Staatskapelle and Tchaikovsky: Symphonies 4 - 6 with the Leningrad Philharmonic. Such were the plans of EMI in the early 1970's !
Schoenberg: Gurreleider. HvK wanted to record this in 1966, but was forbidden by the publishers as he wanted to use a slimmed-down version of the score.
Elgar: Symphony No 2 - the only work of Elgar that interested him. He wanted to record it in his final years witht the BPO, but relations were strained with the orchestra who were not interested.
Dvorak: Symphony No 7 and Berlioz: Harold in Italy - both were casualties of the HvK/BPO row in the mid 1980's.
Strauss: Elektra - he intended to record it with Behrens but once she was ready, he was too frail.
Orff: Carmina Burana - was scheduled to be taped, but death intervened, as was a Fidelio with the VPO.
Haydn: Nelson Mass (Missa in Angustiis) - this was in his repertoire and plans for a recording were at an advanced stage before his death.
Bellini: Norma - with Freni and Ricciarelli. This very nearly happened.
Mahler: Symphony No 8 - this was the next Mahler symphony he would have tackled, had ill health and death not intervened.
Berg: Violin Concerto - HvK performed this quite often and would have undoubtedly recorded it with Mutter had she been ready.
Sibelius: Violin Concerto - plans were to record this with Mutter before death intervened. likewise Brahms: Piano Concerto No 2 with Weissenberg.

I'm sure other members could add to this list. Personally, I would have given a small fortune for another Mahler symphony conducted by Karajan.

Best regards, Lee

[john]

Lee/Darkehmen

I would have liked Mahler's 1st Symphony and The Rachmaninov Paganini.
Also Elektra but we do at least have the 'live' old Salzburg recording.

Lee, there is a 'live' broadcast of Berg's violin concerto with Amoyal from 26-1-85.
There is also a 'live' broadcast of the Brahm's 2nd piano concerto with Pollini from 19-5-75.

Infact it's quite amazing what you find out about Karajan, a few years ago one of my Karajan fan friends from Japan sent me a poor quality DVD of a 'live' tv broadcast from 1977 of the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 with Weissenberg, I could not beleive that Karajan was using a score, I always thought this never happened.

Best Regards
John

[lee]

Hi John

Thank you for your information - yes I remember the Berg being broadcast on BBC Radio 3 at the time, although was too young to appreciate the music ! And of course, there are a number of recordings of HvK conducting the Brahms Second Piano Concerto, the proposed Weissenberg recording being part of Karajan's final contract with DG.

I agree with you about Mahler's 1st Symphony, although apparently Karajan thought the music "too Jewish" (source Osborne), a remark I always thought a little undiplomatic considering his past.

As for the Beethoven Fourth Piano Concerto film, I too cannot believe it - both that it exists and that he was using a score. I've read that he did use a score more often than popular myth would have us believe, but mostly with modern music (which he conducted more often than popular myth would have us believe too !) - in particular, the Schoenberg Op 32 Variations. That said, to learn that Karajan needed one in a Beethoven work was a surprise. It's films like this that I had hoped would surface in the centenary year - well I suppose there's still 11 months to go !!

Best regards,
Lee

[David]

John/Lee,

I remember hearing or reading somewhere that Karajan once said that he only used a score when it was the orchestra who were not 100% familiar with the piece in question; but it is difficult to believe that this would have applied to a piece by Beethoven. I attended the Edinburgh concert on 4th September 1967 and am 99% certain that he used a score for Stravinsky’s Symphony in C, but the memory fades and so please don’t quote me on this. However I think that this would tie in more with Lee’s comments about modern music.

Cheers for now -
David

[darkehmen]

dgp said:

it is difficult to believe that this would have applied to a piece by Beethoven. I attended the Edinburgh concert on 4th September 1967 and am 99% certain that he used a score for Stravinsky’s Symphony in C...However I think that this would tie in more with Lee’s comments about modern music.

My impression is that the Beethoven piano concerti were not as much a part of Karajan's "core" repertoire as other Beethoven works. I don't know how often he performed them in concert, but the recordings were sparse, compared to other Beethoven issues. For years, I had no idea that he'd even recorded for EMI at all (I only knew him as a DG artist), and I remember hoping beyond hope that he would record the Emperor concerto for DG. What a pleasant surprise it was to finally discover the Weissenberg disc from the 1970s.

As for scores, I believe there's a photograph of Karajan using a score for the Parsifal recording (not for the concert). And he can be seen using a score in the old Unitel Bach film, for the Orchestral Suite No. 2 (but not for the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3):



www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/2550643

It's an interesting film, but suffers from the "experimental" camera shots that many of the early Unitel directors employed in these videos. In my opinion, it wasn't until the Telemondial recordings (and especially, the gorgeous later ones) that Karajan really achieved an ideal shooting style for filming classical performances.

[Deleted]

Jan 19, 2008 13:08:43 GMT 1 lee said:

Bellini: Norma - with Freni and Ricciarelli. This very nearly happened.
Mahler: Symphony No 8 - this was the next Mahler symphony he would have tackled, had ill health and death not intervened.
Berg: Violin Concerto - HvK performed this quite often and would have undoubtedly recorded it with Mutter had she been ready.
Sibelius: Violin Concerto - plans were to record this with Mutter before death intervened.

Wasn't Cecila Bartoli on the waiting list too for some recording with Karajan? I forgot which piece(s).

One of the most memorable passages from "A Life in Music" is: "I have time" ceased to apply for him after the early 1980s (sensed that time was no longer on his side).